The Girl in the Moon

[Chris Bennett]

This is another piece for my illustration portfolio I'm putting together (I'm hitting the green light on sending stuff out for 30th January).
It'sr from a series of things that come from an idea of mine called "The Astronomer's Guest" and I reckon to have another 2 or 3 images ready for when I start presenting stuff to artist agents.
Sorry if I'm posting a lot of stuff here at the moment but I'm racing against time with this portfolio and updating my website, so your comments are very valuable at the moment. Many thanks.

[Brendan N]

wonderful work Chris! As with all of your recent stuff I'm really liking how the colours came out in the end. Love the detail shot particularly for this reason. The only thing bugging my right now are the two larger ellipses cutting in at the bottom - they're a little uncomfortable I think, but then may wrong here.

Also not sure, but her thighs seem to be on the short side, might want to bring her hips up or something.

Fantastic work overall, I'm taking it this is acrylic? I'm a complete 'tard at it, so much respect!
cheers!

[Stoat]

Love the figure. And the pose -- the way her finger *doesn't quite* touch the floor.

But what's this about portfolio? I just visited your site (nice work!), and it looks like you're more than established. Do you have something specific coming up or something?

[bluefooted]

I really love this! It's so simple, but very nice.

I agree about the elipses at the bottom. Also, I'd like to see some indication of how that piece of fabric interacts with her dress, but other than that, it looks good. Good luck with your portfolio!

[ICH]

Great work as usual Chris.
I like the general mood, so evocative, like on many of your works.
The only thing is that I don't understad how gravity works on this room.
Great improove on legs position from the rough to the final work.
Thanks for roughs and sketches, it's ever nice and interesting watching process.

Good luck for the portfolio and keep posting!

[Cthogua]

I love the floating feeling of the composition, it kind of reinforces the surreal dreamlike sense of the painting. It reminds me alittle of John Jude Pelencar, which for the record I think is a very good thing.

[Chris Bennett]

Brendan N: Thanks Brendan, Yes, those ellipses are a little strange - they were originally going to be the shape of the slab design on the stone floor but seemed to evolve into these 'tops of piston things inside a combustion chamber' sort of thing, kind of implying she is in a sort of machine yet in a room at the same time - hence the unease I guess.
You are right, the thigh thing you mention occured to me when it was on screen here in CA - it is not apparent in the painting which is 54cm x 70cm. I reckon it is to do with the extended foot and its drawing in relation to the light - the forshortening of that leg isn't working as well as it might.
Yes, it is Acrylic and yes, the stuff drives me mad too!!

Stoat: Thanks Stoat, I'm glad you dropped by!
Yes, I am an established painter - sells pictures in galleries and has a publisher who licenses images out etc etc. But it is soooo limiting in subject matter - If you are not painting 'boats in the harbour', 'Guys and girls in Love', or abstracty landscape interior decoration.....you starve.
I have always had to suppress my imagination in this regard.....Untill I thought about illustration - the subjects are far more open and you are not having to find new clients every week. Thus I am building a portfolio of illustrations and will be revamping my site ready for a blitz on the artists agencies. Hence you guys feedback is particularly valuable at the moment!

bluefooted: Thankyou blue - I mentioned something about those elipses to Brendan. The fabric is meant to be a little ambiguous - you could feel it as a sort of draogon's tail dangling down. However, a friend of mine was a little unsure of reading it as her dress or a bit of unconnected drapery. As you and he suggest; it may need something else to make it feel 'right'.
Thanks for the good wishes!

ICH: Hi ICH! many thanks! I'm so glad you are responding to the mood - I think it's my strongest quality and it's great when it is appreciated.
The gravity in this room is 'normal' but she is floating - perhaps in a dream, weightless and eclipsing the moon inscribed on the wall. Hence the chroma flare or lava ring around the moon and the colouring, which is the red the moon takes on with a lunar eclipse.
You are more than welcome to the development roughs and sketches - they are something I always like to see in other peoples posts and I include them as a sort of 'thankyou' for people taking the trouble to look at what I have done.
Thanks for the good wishes!

Cthogua: Glad you are picking up on the surreal thing. I'm very flattered to be reminding you of John Jude Palencar - I guess it is the moon thing that is doing that. He paints in acrylics, as I do do and tries to deliver energy through stillness which is something that has always been my bag. Add the moon to that and I our orbits will coincide a little!
Many thanks for your encouragement Cthogua.

[The Corporation]

waoooow !!!

[Dizon]

I'm already a fan!

I'm an aspiring illustrator so I was wondering where you would show samples of your work? Do you go to actual publishers and show them your stuff? What do you mean by artist agencies?

Anyway, good luck on your endeavor. I think you got something different to offer in the world of illustration. Thanks.

[gunnarsson]

hey chris! I must say that I REALLY like this new direction your art is taking. I saw you writing before that you are moving in a more illustrative, book-cover kind of way? And I saw a painting you did which had those elements, i think it was a girl riding on a bear. I did like it but I felt like something was missing, it felt a bit empty in a maybe not so good way.
I think this is a big step upwards from that, the composition and all looks really nice, simple but in a good way. I really cant tell what medium you used... At first I thought that you might have fooled us all and that it was photoshop, then I saw that you wrote "photoshop sketches", so the painting is traditional yes?
anyways, i think that you are definitely on the right path with this. I think that trying out a bit more action could be good though. The simple composition seems to be key, so don't compromise that over it, but i don't think you have to.
I should tell you that my experience and ability to give healthy advice may be lacking:) or yes, it probably is. I'm certain that you have alot more experience then me.

keep it rolling, whish you the best!:)

[Muttonhead]

This is fantastic! Color, mood, anatomy, everything is really great.... and maybe my favorite piece of yours to date.

Ditto on the ellipses, but it's not really that much of a problem... the piece has a very iconic otherworldliness to it as it is, so it doesn't stand out as being "wrong"

I really think though that the biggest star of this piece is the color. Nice work.

[Stoat]

Yes, I am an established painter - sells pictures in galleries and has a publisher who licenses images out etc etc. But it is soooo limiting in subject matter - If you are not painting 'boats in the harbour', 'Guys and girls in Love', or abstracty landscape interior decoration.....you starve.

Sorry to hear that; that's the direction I was hoping to move in. After years of being an illustrator, I'm sick to death of trying to paint that stupid thing in my (usually inarticulate) client's head. I wanted to try my luck painting stuff and putting it out there and if it sells, it sells. On the other hand, I pretty much figured I'd have to paint 'boats in the harbor' kinds of things to have a hope of it.

Anyhow, I'll definitely keep an eye on your site. I love the dreamy '40s (or is it '50s?) feel of your paintings there. I have trouble believing the Girl in the Moon wouldn't sell to a similar buyer.

*I'd* buy it! Ummm...if I could afford it :)

[Chris Bennett]

The Corporation: Glad you liked it!

patdzon: Thanks. I'm just branching into this myself from having established myself in the Fine Art field so I don't know very much. The way I understand it, publishers rarely look at unsolicited work direct and you must get on the books of an artist agencey in order for them to find you work. One thing I'm pretty certain of is what you pointed out: you have to have something to offer that is a little bit unique. My take on this is not to come up with a gimmick but to bring your own take on things to the table. This is the only way you have a long term future and can be reasonably happy with what you wind up doing for people.


gunnarsson: Many thanks for taking the trouble to look at the work and give me some feedback on your take on its development. Yes the painting is traditional - its acrylic 70cm x 54cm on gessoed board. I had a peek at your stuff on Deviant and lo and behold! You are the guy that posted that terrific painting of the Robot and guy in a shirt flying about a while back here on 'Finally finished'! I posted a comment on the thread about how impressed I was with it. To get a positive crit from someone with so much talent and potential (both in your skills and the torrent of ideas you have) is really encouraging!

Muttonhead: Wow, compliments from the colourist himself! My colour scheme was derived from the way the moon looks during a lunar eclipse - sort of bruised and reddish. It meant I could kinda believe in the colours I was using a bit more. Interesting that you are happy with the ellipses since I have been in two minds about them - sometimes I think it is exactly the right vibe being set up and sometimes I feel I've gone a bit too far and should have pulled things to a slightly more 'normal' vibe. When in doubt, do nothing! Anyway, so much thanks for keeping an eye out for my work and your valuable take on things.

Stoat: This is quite a complex issue - In a roundabout way the buyers of paintings have the same hold on you as do the illustrators clients, the differnce being that there is much more variety outside of what sells in the 'fine art' market place. That's not to say something 'quirky' might start selling but it is a big, big exception to the rule. It's an interesting subject and something I've been thinking about for a while now. If you want to discuss it with me a bit further PM me - I would be more than happy to answer any questions about my take on how the fine art field works. In fact I may even start a thread on this very thing since there is a misconception about how 'free' one is in the gallery market. Of course I may be equally misguided about how much better it would be in the illustration world - perhaps you could give me a few pointers on that!
Of course you can afford to buy my painting! - illustrators are rich aren't they?...aren't they?.....please tell me they are!

[Stoat]

Stoat: This is quite a complex issue - In a roundabout way the buyers of paintings have the same hold on you as do the illustrators clients, the differnce being that there is much more variety outside of what sells in the 'fine art' market place. That's not to say something 'quirky' might start selling but it is a big, big exception to the rule. It's an interesting subject and something I've been thinking about for a while now. If you want to discuss it with me a bit further PM me - I would be more than happy to answer any questions about my take on how the fine art field works. In fact I may even start a thread on this very thing since there is a misconception about how 'free' one is in the gallery market. Of course I may be equally misguided about how much better it would be in the illustration world - perhaps you could give me a few pointers on that!
Of course you can afford to buy my painting! - illustrators are rich aren't they?...aren't they?.....please tell me they are!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject, but I'd feel quite selfish doing it in PM. I'm sure many of us are interested. I've been meaning to start a thread about this very topic, but I wasn't sure where it should go.

Heh. When I was twenty, I called up several of the most successful illustrators/designers in my town and said, "I'm not looking for work. I'm looking for advice. I'll buy you lunch if you tell me your thoughts on the business." (Actually, I was looking for work, but I didn't get any. Still, I got lots of good advice, and I don't think anybody stuck me for a lunch).

[Miss Beretta]

Hi Chris! Great to see you here! Marielle

[mrgrumble]

fantastic! i haven't had a chance to rummage through all the replies, but the first thing that struck me were the circle forms...are they an homage to our dear buddy rembrandt (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/self/rembrandt.1661.jpg)? well done as usual chris!
-tim

[gustavo desimone]

me encanto tu pincelada

[Chris Bennett]

Miss Baretta: Marielle! great to see you here!

mrgrumble: Tim, thanks so much. You are right about the Kenwood Rembrandt, although it was not a direct inspiration it is one of my favourite Rembrandt self portraits and one of my all time favourite paintings - those circles have always intrigued me. It must have been in the back of my mind, even though I was not conscious of it. Some people say they are a sort of map of the world in that picture, so the association with my inscribed map of the moon is even closer!

gustavo desimone: Muchas gracias, muy simpatico.

[AztcFireFlower]

Agree with folks on the colors. Draws one in with warmth and calm aside from the girl floating peacefully. Beautiful and alluring piece.
Love how you handle the subtle play of light. Thanks for the close-up. I can really appreciate your mix of color stroke that makes the skin tone vibrate.
Please keep us posted on your venture into the illustration world.

[kev ferrara]

Chris, I very much like the subtlety of your imagination. This a moody and beautiful piece.

Best of luck with your foray into illustration.

kev

[Chris Bennett]

AztecFireFlower: Thanks for your kind words Aztec and good to hear from you -I will certainly keep you posted about the illustration venture: I've completely redesigned my website but still have the old one on-line. I intend replacing it with the new one ready for Febuary when I hit the green light for contacting agents.

Kev Ferrara: I admire your work a great deal Kev, so I'm particularly pleased that you like this. Very interested also by your observation regarding the subltey of my imagination. It's a crazy paradox, but I find the more subtle I am the more powerful the piece - if I overstate then the result often lacks any kind of intensity or presense. This is probably because I am at heart a 'reductive' artist - paring down seems to give greater luminosity of feeling for me. A 'carver' by nature rather than a 'modeller'. I'm going to have to tread very carefully since certain jobs will suit this type of strength better than others.
Thanks for the good wishes as well.

[doonboy]

I like this piece a lot. One question that I have for you now that I've scanned through your threads is this, why exactly are you not just using your existing paintings as illustration samples rather than doing new ones? It seems to me that your work that you've created already has a broader market than the genre specific samples I've seen posted on this forum. I could easily see your gallery paintings being used in magazine and books etc. Your work often hints at Brad Holland's http://www.bradholland.net/beta/portfolios/portfolioAdv.html work in my brain and his career is marked by him doing his own thing and art directors flocking to him.

[Chris Bennett]

doonboy: Thanks for such a thought provoking post - I've spent the last hour and a half looking at Brad Holland's site (there is a beautifully concieved article on it about the state of modern art he has written) and your own (really powerfull work there which I would like to ask you questions about through PM if that's OK).
To answer your well put question; I have included an image of my gallery page I'm building for my new site. It only has details of the pictures on the selection buttons but it should give you a general idea of what I will be putting forward to the artist agents. The last three years have been commited to a big print publisher which has meant a lot of retro imagery fills my portfolio and I need to produce other things. I also feel that my particular skills, in order to not compete in an unwinable battle with photography, have to be applied to genres that require the realisation of flights of the imagination. Of course, I may be wrong, but I notice that Brad Holland's work is using the fantastical in a way that cannot be replaced by photography or cgi. Hence I am hard at work getting this together with the recent paintings - its really tough figuring it all out and has put massive questions in my way as to the place of artists/illustrators in the 'browser culture' we are now living in and ignore at our peril.

[doonboy]

Putting together samples is really tough because it is so hard to get out of your own way and out of the mind set of wondering what "they" might want.
The best advice I ever heard about portfolio samples is to show what you want to do! I've heard tons of stories of illustrators getting jobs that are very close to something in their samples...show some penguin paintings and you might get the penguin job. I always thought that a penquin painting might show that you can do animals but no, to many art directors it shows that you can do penquins ;)
feel free to pm me, no prob.